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Nuggets analysis: Third quarter golden for Warriors

By Christopher DempseyThe Denver Post

Posted:
05/03/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated:
05/03/2013 02:09:02 AM MDT

Denver forward Wilson Chandler takes a shot with 11.5 seconds remaining over Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors and missed in Thursday night's Game 6 of the Nuggets' fourth consecutive first-round playoff series exit. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

OAKLAND, Calif. — In the end, energy and the will to win was the biggest separation.

The Golden State Warriors showed it in the third quarter Thursday night; the Nuggets did so late in the fourth, but that was a little too late.

Otherwise, Game 6 was largely a sloppy mess, played by two teams probably too ramped up to play a knock-down, drag-out game.

But in the deciding third quarter, it was Golden State's added ball movement on offense that saw it through. The Nuggets' defense had been able to hone in on Stephen Curry in the first half. They forced the Warriors into one terribly inefficient half of basketball.

Then, Curry busted loose in the third quarter, and Golden State never trailed from that point, though Denver pulled within two points late and had a shot to tie the game.

A season with so much promise was suddenly over.

Forward Kenneth Faried said the season was a huge disappointment due to the playoff loss.

"In my honest opinion, we won 57 games in the regular season, big whoop. We had homecourt advantage. ... But, we've got to live with it."

The jackpot of Game 5 for the Nuggets was finding Andre Iguodala's defense on Jarrett Jack — on any player bringing the ball up the court, really. And, getting the bigs into the game and having a better rotation to the Warriors' shooters.

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The foundation was there. Now it was time to perfect the details.

And that's exactly what happened in the first half, after which Denver led 42-40 despite atrocious shooting. All the little things went into creating the whole and it was key because the Nuggets never found their shooting touch. The high watermark was hitting 40 percent in the first quarter. It went downhill from there.

But because box-outs were strong, second-effort plays were almost always there, the Nuggets found a way to not only stay in the game but carve out an 11-point lead in the first half. Center JaVale McGee put out one of his best efforts, not just of the playoffs, but of the season. But his conditioning would not allow him to stay on the court for long stretches.

Meanwhile, Curry started on Ty Lawson and the plan was to wear him down by constantly hitting him with screens. That, and sticking close to him on defense. Curry hit just 1-of-6 shots from the field in the first half and missed both of his 3-point tries.

Then the third quarter happened.

"Curry got loose. They got the 3-ball in the game," Nuggets coach George Karl said.

Boy, did they ever.

Curry found space around pick-and-rolls, picked up the pace in transition and was much more decisive when he saw a double team. By the end of the third, Curry had hit four 3-point shots and finished with 14 points in the quarter.

The Nuggets, however, chopped a big fourth-quarter lead by scrambling and getting help from Golden State, which began turning the ball over with regularity.

The Nuggets tried to double team the ball as much as possible, particularly when it was in the corners, and it worked. The Nuggets forced several steals to keep chopping into the lead, right down to the final 11.5 seconds, when Wilson Chandler missed from close-in under pressure, a shot that would have tied the game.

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